The Inventor's Way
by Mr.Floodwaters
Summary: Alright let's see what happens when you force a super-villain and a superhero to interact through a reforming program. And what happens when their mutual friend tries to hook them up. Please ignore any rambling I may do in the the author's notes. It gets kinda involved and long.
1. How We Met

Alright so if you had told me a year ago that I'd be working for an inventor who lives on the outskirts of Jump City because everyone thought he was a bit on the mad side I would've told you that you were the crazy one. And yet here I am. Living in what seems to be a converted factory with what does seem like a slightly mad inventor. Of course if I had stuck to the banks in the center of town then I would not be in this situation, but I can't say that I'm unhappy with it. After all he took me in and apparently made a deal with the police so that I could have a chance to change my ways. Oh I suppose I should explain how all of this started.

**One Year Ago**

The place looked like an old factory just like my source said. If they were right about that than they must have been right about the high end tech that was stored inside. I hopped down from my vantage point across the street and made my way over to the old building staying close to the shadows.

I circled around hoping to find someway to get to the roof. After a few minutes of searching I found a fire escape with the ladder pulled up. I focused on the lock holding the ladder up and threw one of my hexes at it. My aim was true and the lock rusted until it fell apart. As the ladder the fell towards me I leaped and caught it to make sure that when it stopped it wouldn't make any noise. Unfortunately the slightly rusted metal scraped together causing a small squeaking noise that seemed to echo throughout the small back alley unnecessarily loud. I paused to look around, knowing full well that I was all alone in the alleyway.

At this point I should mention that my name's Jinx. I'm a metahuman with the power to increase the bad luck in an object. I have bubblegum pink hair that's styled into twin horns. I guess I could be described as petite. But thanks to my slight figure I've been able to escape some sticky situations.

But back to the alleyway. I climbed up the ladder to the fire-escape landing and from there I made my way to the roof. I moved over to a large window that was placed near the center of the building's roof. Using a window cutter that I'd managed to snag on one of my previous heists, I cut a big hole in the window. Making to sure to catch the glass before it could fall too far and shatter on the ground, I went through the hole landing on my feet without so much as a whisper of wind escaping from my landing.

I looked around to see if there were any guards, but the place seemed completely devoid of life. While looking around I saw several hallways, I went down the one that was closest to me. At the end of the hallway was a big iron door with what looked like one of those wheel looking things that are often found on a submarine's hatches. I wasn't expecting this but I took it in stride and decided to open it. What I found inside was a room furnished with couches, love seats, a few tables, a desk towards the back, and a futon with several mattresses laid on top of each other.

"Hello," a voice said from one of the chairs. A light was turned on and I found myself looking into the eyes of what seemed to be a rather tall man. And the worst part was that he wasn't surprised at seeing someone standing in his room who apparently had been about to steal some valuable items.

"Oh hello," was the only reply I could come up with. I mean what would you do after receiving a shock like that?

"Well now, what should I do about this totally _unexpected _visit, hmm?" he asked, the sarcasm very evident in his voice especially when he said unexpected.

"Well can we say that calling the police is out of the question?" I had to try. I mean seriously what would you have done in this situation?

"Well actually I have to call them. But if you're willing I could work out an …. arrangement to keep you out of jail?" he said. He seemed rather hesitant about the arrangement he had just mentioned but I was more than willing to try anything to keep outta jail.

"Exactly what would the arrangement be?" I asked, now not so sure about what was about to be asked of me. Let's just say the words that came out of his mouth next were not the ones I was expecting, but then again this day seemed to be filling up with a lot of unexpecteds recently.

"You'll be working for me for the next three years to pay off your criminal record. After that if you choose to stay you'd receive a regular pay that will be determined at some later date," was the reply that I got. Needless to say I was speechless. All that I did was nod and that seemed to be what he was waiting for. He immediately sprung up and went to his phone. He was talking to the captain within seconds from the sound of it. He apparently had some pull within the police department. He got off a few minutes later and turned to me.

"Good news?" I asked, now very hopeful that he had convinced them to go along with his plan.

"Good news indeed. They have agreed to let you work for me in hopes of reforming you. I personally think that you are only get as far as a respectable citizen instead of the superhero they're hoping I and the Titans will turn you into." he said the Titans so calmly that the full impact of it didn't hit me until a few seconds later by which time he had gotten some chocolate milk out of a refrigerator that I hadn't noticed when I first came into the room. When that happened I choked on the milk that I had already drank.

"The Titans?" I finally managed to splutter out. "Why do they have to be involved?"

"Well apparently seeing as I turned down the chance to become one of them the police must involve them due to the fact that you are a 'dangerous meta' who needs to be under constant supervision," he said like this would be a very normal explanation. It was starting to be clear that wasn't the first time that he had offered this deal before. But o could also tell from the look in his eyes that this was the first one he had hope for.

"Wait. You turned an offer to join the Titans? Why? And a better question would be why would they want you? You seem like a normal human being." I said in confusion as it finally got to me what the hell he had just said.

"Well I am actually far from human, Jinx. And I have some skills. Some that are somewhat unnatural and some that come from years of experience. I'm actually an inventor." he replied not at all offended by the way that I had phrased my questions.

"Oh wait hold on. You know my name obviously but I don't know yours," I had just realized that he had an unfair advantage over me, even if it was just a name.

"Oh. I forgot my manners for a moment. Man, mom would kill me for being so impolite. Well my name is Paydon Floodwaters," he replied.

"Well nice to meet you Paydon. So when are the Titans coming over here to start observing?" I asked.

"Not until tomorrow and it's Titan. They can only spare one. Actually she's a personal friend," he said not really explaining. "And you'll have to stay here tonight. I have a blowup mattress if you want. I don't sleep much and when I do I don't use the futon because that's where Sparky sleeps and he doesn't like people so much as touching his bed, let alone sleep in it. Well sweet dreams." And he walked out of the room. I managed to get some sleep, but in the morning I thought that I would never sleep again when I saw who would be observing my reforming. It was the Ice Queen herself. Raven.

**A/N: Okay so this is my first fanfiction, so I'm sorry for forgetting one minor, but important detail: the disclaimer so here it goes. I lay no claim to the rights of Teen Titans as I don't own anything related to them besides a video game. So if you sue me you'll be in the wrong. Anyway R&R please. Any questions pm me. This is Mr. Floodwaters signing off. Maybe.**


	2. Paydon Prepares for a Date

**Present**

It's been a year since the incident when I tried to steal from a supposedly abandoned factory. When I got inside I discovered that the place wasn't so abandoned. There was a man named Paydon Floodwaters who lived all alone but for a rather large dog of the husky breed. You know the ones, they look more like wolves than anything else. And when I say large I mean LARGE, the thing when standing on all fours comes up to my chest. Anyway since then I've learned a lot about Paydon, and the more I've learned about the more of an enigma he becomes. He has a curious way of avoiding questions, what he would do is he would find the most meaningless thing ever and ask me if I had done the job right or if I had fixed it properly then when I began to answer he would suddenly start talking about me so that the sudden change of pace and direction of the conversation would cause me to forget all about my question until the next day. So far I've only managed to get a total of three questions answered. Another that I've had to get used to is having the dark Titan Raven around. She would come over to observe on weekends and occasionally during the week she would come over to chat with Paydon. She never seemed to be friendly towards her own teammates, but for some reason she seemed to be almost cheerful around him like he understood her. I've tried to hear what it is they talk about, but every time I get close to them I would notice that neither one has said a word. I started to suspect that they could speak to each other with their minds. But this is just stuff that I have noticed over the year that I have lived under the same roof as The Inventor as I think of him sometimes. I thought of him like that when he seemed distant like the world couldn't touch him. It was during these times that I had learned to leave him alone, otherwise he was as likely to cut off one of my arms as embrace me like a long lost sister. After the moments were over he would lock himself in his room and either come out with an armful of blueprints for new ideas or with bloodshot eyes. But again this is just some things I've observed during my stay here. This morning though something odd happened. Let me tell you about it.

"Jinx! Jinx! Where are you?" I heard the now familiar voice ringing through the many halls of the large building.

"I'm in the kitchen like usual!" I yelled back not sure where he was.

"Oh! Well can you come to the garage please? I need an opinion on something!" He replied back in a shout.

"We have a garage? More importantly why do we have a garage? I thought you didn't have a car." I yelled back in confusion.

"Well just go the same path you would to get to Workshop Three, but turn left at the last hallway!" He seemed to be screaming at the top of his lungs.

I followed his directions and ended up in what looked like a mechanics garage. I looked around for him and found him laying under a rather impressive car. I could tell he hadn't seen me come in because he rolled out from under the car on one of those board with wheels thing whilst looking almost impatient. When he saw me standing there staring at the car he grinned.

"Like it? I made it outta spare parts that I found in the junkyard, it's modeled after the Ford Falcon XB from 1973. Or is it 71? Anyway I wanted your opinion on something I was gonna wear on a date I have later on today." He said almost sounding embarrassed. I could tell he wasn't used to getting opinions, but as I've learned he's very open-minded about everything. He even asked me for any ideas on one of his inventions. Anyway I followed him into his room, the very room where we had first met a year ago. He walked over to his closet and pulled out an all black tuxedo with a cream colored tie.

"Well what do you think?" He asked. He looked kinda nervous like it was his first date and that he was asking his mother's opinion.

"Well I think its you. Most definitely. Why are you so nervous though? It's almost like this is your first date." I said meaning for it to be a good natured joke, but then I noticed he was getting the look that I associated the persona I called The Inventor. I had to find a way to keep him from that place in his mind that he retreated to when under stress or when he is reminded of a time of extreme sadness. "Well who is the lucky girl whom you'll e taking out on the town?"

"Oh well it's this girl that I met at the café downtown. You know the one that serves the extra mocha extra chocolate chip frappes we like." He replied. I could see he was already coming out that place that hold some form of security and safety from the things that torment him in the darkest hours of the night.

"It wouldn't happen to be the cute waitress that keeps flirting with you despite my best efforts?" I asked playfully.

"Hey it's not my fault she doesn't swing the same way. Plus I may have flirted a bit myself." He said in reply.

"When could you have flirted with her? I'm always there." I asked now just a bit upset that he had managed to steal her away before I could try in earnest to get her to go on a date with me.

"You don't honestly think that I only leave here when you drag me along for a night on the town, do you?" He asked now being the one with playfulness in his voice.

"No fair. I can't count on you to be a shut-in when I need you to be, can I?" I asked him, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Nope. I must say that even before you came along I still something that resembled a social life. Oh and by the way while I'm gone Raven will be keeping an eye on you." He added knowing full well the reaction he'd get for it. And boy did I give him a reaction. Chased him all over that room yelling loud profanities at him while he wore a very broad grin that might just have split his face before I could if the before mentioned Titan hadn't arrived at that very moment.

"What did you do to piss her off now Paydon?" She asked in her usual monotone.

"Oh I simply told her that you and her would be left here all alone together tonight. I don't think she quite liked that." He said in answer to her question.

"Oh am I such a terrible person that you wouldn't want to spend a few hours with moi?" She asked pretending to be offended. It was hard to believe that she could be playful in any sense of the word, but here she was teasing me like we were best friends.

"Well no, but it was rather unexpected and we didn't talk it over like how he had promised to whenever he would go out. I swear he planned this to happen." I said trying not to irritate her as I was prone to do.

"Well I guess that is a good enough reason to want to kill him. But seeing as he is my friend I can't let you do that." She said. I could hear the playfulness edging her voice.

**A Few Hours Later**

"Well I guess I'm off. You two try not to completely destroy my house, ok?" Paydon said. He had walked in while we were busy watching his giant TV. When we turned around I couldn't help but let out a low whistle of approval. The tux looked great on him and if I didn't prefer my own team I might have been jealous of the girl he was taking out to dinner.

"You know I prefer girls but if I didn't you would find yourself snatched up and in my bed almost immediately." I said in answer to the question he was asking with his eyes. After I finished my sentence he seemed to calm down a bit. "And remember to have fun and don't start rambling. You know that you'll say anything when you start. Can't risk you offending that poor girl, eh?"

"No I suppose not." With that remark he left locking the door behind him.

**A/N: Well hello again faithful readers. I hope that this is to you guys' liking. I've decided to put the disclaimer at the end since I keep forgetting to put it in at the top. So here we go. Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Teen Titans besides an old game for a gamecube, so if you wanna sue me you won't win as this is proof that I don't claim any rights to Teen Titans. Now put down that briefcase Mr. Lawyer Dude. Anyway I will probably update daily or at least once every two days until school starts again at which point I will probably update once a week, maybe even less often so this is Mr. Floodwaters signing off. Maybe.**


	3. Girl's Night? I Guess

"Alright now that he's gone want do you wanna do?" I asked in an effort to break the silence had settled in the moment the door had shut behind Paydon. But when I didn't get an answer I looked over at Raven and she was reading, paying no mind to me whatsoever. "Hey, earth to Raven. I asked you a question. Didn't you hear me?"

"Yes I heard you. So I did what I wanted to do." She replied in her usual monotone.

"Alright, besides reading what do you want to do? I mean there's no way that reading is the only thing you wanna do." I was trying to get her to be the almost cheerful person she is when Paydon's around, but I was starting to think that I was going about this the wrong way. "Alright how about this. We play a game of questions, similar to twenty questions except the questions are about each other."

"Alright. That seems interesting enough. I'll go first." She said putting down her book. "Why did you agree to stay here with Paydon?"

"I guess I wanted to start over again. Alright my turn. How did you two meet and become friends?" I asked my question hoping she wouldn't nick-pick. Of course she did.

"That's two questions at once. You'll have to pick which one you want me to answer." She said.

"Alright fine, how did you two meet?" I said slightly annoyed that I hadn't gotten away with the double question.

"We first met when he was trying to sell his first invention that he had made here in Jump. We still haven't figured out how he got to the island without a boat. Now how did you find out about this place?" She asked, catching me off guard a bit as I thought that the Titans had already found out about my sources from way-back-when.

"A source tipped me off about some high end tech that was hidden in here. Now how did you two become friends anyway?" I was determined to find out how the hell he made her seem so cheerful.

"Oh sometime ago a new villain popped up in the city and he was about to finish me off when suddenly I hear running feet and there's Paydon. I tried to tell him to stop, but the words had barely left my mouth when he punched the guy straight in the face and sent him flying into the nearest building. This man who had withstood my best attacks was sent flying into a building by someone we had all thought was purely a human being. Alright my turn, why do you care?" She suddenly turned the tables on me. Or at least that's what she thought.

"I was wondering how it was that he seemed to make you almost cheerful. And that's my next question, too." I really wanted to know.

"Cheerful? Oh the way I act around him. No you've mistaken that look on my face for something entirely different. It's a sense of peace and relaxation. He has some way of keeping powers under control. When I'm here I don't have to concentrate on controlling my emotions. Now why have you stayed here?" The question hit a little closer to home than she might have realized.

"Well I've seen him go into that trance of his a lot during the year that I've been here and each time it gets just a little worse. I'm not too sure if you've noticed lately but he's stopped inventing. The only thing he's not stopped doing is fixing up that car in his garage. Matter of fact this is the first time that he's gone out without me forcing him to in about three months. What do you know about that trance of his anyway?" I had been looking for someone to talk to about this for awhile now and now here was someone who could possibly tell me what was going on with him.

"All I know is that he follows a pattern about it. He'll be fine for a few months and then it starts up. It'll be for small periods of time in the beginning, but it will slowly start to get worse. He'll be fine one moment then it's like no one but him exists. Most of the time he'll get this look like he might cut off your arms, but for a few people he seems so peaceful around. Then when he snaps out of it he either starts making up new inventions, each one crazier than last, or he locks himself into the nearest room and cries. I know what started all of it, but it wouldn't be my place to tell you that. If he hasn't told you yet then he doesn't feel like it would be a good thing to tell you." She gave an explanation that seemed to contain all the information she had. I decided it would be best to steer the game's questions away from the rather sensitive topic.

"Alright now it's your turn, but we have to avoid talking about Paydon now. It's getting too depressing." I said. It was the best effort I could make, the best explanation I could give to avoid the subject.

"Well I agree with statement. Ok here's my question: what is the dumbest thing you've ever done while drunk?" The question was so silly and the memory it brought up was so funny that I couldn't help my self, I started to laugh my ass off. "Oh, is the thing that funny?"

"Hey now that's two questions. But I'll answer the first one. The dumbest thing I've ever done while drunk was kiss Gizmo." I said, continuing to laugh and I was soon joined by Raven.

"That must have been quite a surprise for the both of you. Especially since you're a fan of our team." I had forgotten that she was here when I had made that comment to Paydon before he had left.

"Well when we finally remembered we pretended that it had never happened, but it was embarrassing nonetheless. Now it's my turn. Which side on you on?" I knew that she understood what I meant, but I also knew that she would try to evade the question. However I wasn't about to let her do that. "And of course I mean are you gay or straight?"

"Well since you're being so blunt about it, I'm about as straight as a curly fry. Why do you care?" She answered the question so nonchalantly that I was tempted to ask her to repeat it. Instead I told her my reason for asking.

"Well there have been rumors about it and many bets were placed. Meaning right now I'm entitled to about 300 dollars worth in wagers. One of the rumors is that you went out with Starfire for a short while. Is that true?" I had only just remembered the bets that were placed within the criminal circle and exactly how much I was now mine. Oh if only I had recorded that answer.

"Oh no, they are not true. The princess is adorable but way too bubbly for my tastes. How many people bet that I was gay?" She seemed like that all was normal girl talk, and it probably was if the rumor about Starfire were true as well.

"Oh only two people bet that you were. Me and Mammoth. Matter-of-fact if he hadn't bet I would be due twice what I'll get now. That is if the bets weren't called off. And if I can get the money without being killed. So how is she too bubbly as you put it?" I just had to know what she considered _too _bubbly.

"Oh she's always so hyper and can be unrelenting if she wants to have some girl time. That and she's straighter than an arrow. Matter-of-fact some arrows could learn how to be become straighter from her. Alright so who was the first person that you fell in love with or at least had a crush on?" She seemed a little too interested in this topic, but it could be my imagination.

"Oh you remember that black-haired alien from a few years ago? That was my first crush. She was so beautiful and fierce. It was amazing to see her. So who was your first crush?" I was dieing to know just who had first stolen this woman's heart.

"A dragon named Malchior. He disguised himself as a wizard named Rorek and then used me to get the real Rorek out of the book they were both trapped inside. Upon freeing the real Rorek Malchior tried to kill him and myself. We were able to beat him and reseal him into the book, however Rorek had to go as well. Well I'm getting tired of this game. Got anything better to do?" She did look like she was getting bored and so was I. There's only so much fun you can get outta revealing each other's secrets.

"Well Paydon has some drinks in that fridge of his, but I wouldn't try the stuff. I saw Sparky lick some off the floor. The poor thing was out like a light and had a fever within the hour, but within the same hour he was fine. But damn Paydon was so upset, he kept checking the floors and cleaning with a mop. I thought he was going to clean the tiles in his room right off the floor. Oh I just remembered that I made some Kool-aid yesterday. If Paydon hasn't found it yet it should still be there." It's interesting, he seems to run on the stuff. I'll make a whole gallon of Kool-aid and it'll be gone before the day's over. I had to start hiding it so this way I could have some myself. But he always finds it.

"Wait what does that mean? Why should it matter if he finds it?" She seemed a bit confused about, but then again she doesn't live with him.

"He'll drink the stuff before the day's out. I like to drink cold Kool-aid so I leave it in the fridge in the kitchen, but at some point during the day he'll go in and somehow drink the whole damn within a few seconds. So now I hide it so I can have some." It seems rather ridiculous when you think about it.

"Well alright. What flavor is it?"

"Grape. It's the only kind he'll let me buy. Said something about it being special to him. I didn't question any further than that. Oh I think I should warn that me and him have quite the sweet tooth so the Kool-aid will be extremely sweet." I knew she probably thought I was exaggerating, but she'll find out the hard way. About a minute later we were sitting on the couch again each with a red plastic cup filled with grape Kool-aid. The moment Raven drank from it she got this look like a gallon of sugar had been forced down her throat.

"Oh good god, that's sweet! Ok so that was sweeter than I thought it would be. How much sugar did you put in here anyway?" She still looked like she was trying not to gag.

"About three cups for every pint that makes up the jug that we put it in. of course that's only an estimation." I tried for a serious face but couldn't pull it off. From the way she looked at me she apparently thought I was telling the truth. The moment I started laughing I think she might have realized I was joking.

"Oh haha. But seriously how much sugar is in this?" She kept pulling that face and I just help it. I kept on laughing and eventually she started up laughing with me.

"One third of the things that make up the Kool-aid you're drinking is sugar the rest is water and Kool-aid mix. Like I said me and Paydon have quite a combined sweet tooth so I always make it that sweet. Well what do you want to do now? He has some board games, a few game stations, and firing range with sound-proof walls. Not that anyone would hear him shooting anyway. Oh and he's got a pool. Though I doubt that you brought a swimsuit. Or that you even own one." I quirked my eyebrow in her direction.

**Disclaimer: I don't lay claim to the rights of Teen Titans. The only thing that I own that has anything to do with the Teen Titans is an old video game. Oh and the plot to this story.**

**A/N: Alright if I got anything wrong about what happened between Malchior, Rorek, and Raven please leave a comment in your review or pm me directly. If you leave a review I will try to respond to it but remember I'm only human. Or at least that's what you think. I enjoy constructive criticism so if you have any let me have some of it. I'm willing to take ideas. And if anyone here wants a certain type of story I will try my best to write it and I will give credit where credit is due. Oh and I forgot to do this earlier when I started my story but better late than never. Thank you to Silently Watches for helping me to improve my character Paydon Floodwaters. And thanks to SepticMind for encouraging me to write a story for this site. And last but not least: Thanks to you readers who have been reading this and have been following it closely. Also if you actually are reading and have somehow made it through my longest chapter for this story so far than you have some extreme amounts of patience or just like reading this story. Anyway, this is Mr. Floodwaters signing off. Maybe.**


	4. Girl's Night? It Was

**A/N: So this is unusual, right? I mean I normally put this at the end, but not this time. I've decided that the decision of which villain should be placed in this story will be left up to you. My faithful readers and the ones who honestly don't care which way this story goes. So there will be a poll up on my profile page. If you wish to vote then go there. Anyone who pms me a vote will be disregarded and completely forgotten about. Now here comes the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not lay claim to anything Teen Titans besides …. ok do you people really wanna read the same thing over and over again on each and every page? Or do you want to continue on with your reading and forget everything that was said in this disclaimer? Thats what I thought. Now onward.**

"Actually I do own a swimsuit. I normally keep it with me whenever I come over here. It normally gets very boring after awhile as he doesn't talk much when he works unless he needs parts. The real question is do you own a swimsuit? Cause it's not like him to spend money on things he considers unnecessary and I have a feeling that he would consider a swimsuit for you unnecessary." It was her turn to quirk an eyebrow in my direction.

"Well actually during one of my free days he gave me some money and said that I deserved to get something I really wanted. So I went to the mall and bought a new swimsuit. When I got back he was working on some new invention and commented on how long it took me to pick out a new swimsuit. I swear that man can be down right creepy sometimes." I could still remember the feeling I had gotten when he said that comment out loud.

"Well he will occasionally give off that kind of feeling. He can even creep me out with some of the things he knows about my past. Some of those things I've never shared with anyone. I've never asked him how he knows. I found out a long time ago that it's better not to know too much about that man." The look on her face suggested that she knew something about Paydon that she would rather forget.

"Well ok like that doesn't sound a bit creepy in its own right. Well since we both have swimsuits why not go swimming?" I was extremely happy about the chance to finally try out my swimsuit. For some reason the noise of someone in Paydon's pool annoys the crap outta him. It doesn't make him mad that someone's using his pool, but the actual noise itself.

"I'm all for that idea. I'll go change in the bathroom. It won't take me long so if you're not done by the time I am, then I'm locking you out of the pool-house." She smiled at me. Or at least her equivalent of a smile. I think.

"Please. No one can change faster than me." I was serious about it too. However she came out after half a minute and I had on only the bottom of my bikini. I tried to whip on my top before she got to pool but she got there before I could tie it completely. I found out she was serious about locking me out. I also found out that she wanted me to ask politely to be let in. at the moment I wasn't in the mood to do anything politely, so instead I shouted at her to let me in so I could swim too. Needless to say it didn't exactly work until I tried to bust down the door. I think she saw that I was serious about trying to break the door down, so she opened it at the exact moment that I tried to shoulder it open. This lead to me being in the pool with a laughing Raven looking down at me.

"Alright if I had known how bad you wanted to swim in this pool I might have opened the door sooner." She was still laughing so I decided to get back at her.

"Hey mind giving me a hand outta the pool?" I said reaching out my hand for her to grasp. She took the bait and the moment she grabbed a hold of my hand I pulled real hard and sent her crashing into the water. See she couldn't stop me from doing so as sometime ago Paydon added a device to each of the walls in every room in the building that nullified powers. He did so after the fourth time my powers caused one of his inventions to kinda explode. So Raven ended up in the water same as me.

"What the hell? It is so c-c-cold in here." She looked like she had been dumped into a pool of ice water, which essentially she had. For some reason Paydon preferred to have the water a few notches above freezing.

"Oh yeah. S-sorry I forgot to m-m-mention that. P-p-paydon keeps the w-w-water freezing c-c-cold." I got out of the water as quick as I could with Raven following close behind. I ran over to the temperature control box and turned the knob that controlled the temperature of the water up to a more bearable level. "Alright i-i-if we g-give it awhile i-i-it should warm u-up."

"O-o-ok. I-i-i think we forgot the towels. T-t-that pool b-b-better hurry or w-w-we'll have to s-skinny dip." Raven stood there shivering. I knew she was right, either we ditch the bikinis or we find a way to make the pool warm up quicker. Thankfully I knew a way to make it warm it up faster but you had to time it exactly right. If I turned the water heater up to it's highest for exactly five seconds then it would be at the perfect temperature however if it went over that time the water would more than likely start to boil and then it would take about an hour for it to cool down again. We didn't exactly have that kind of time.

"I think it might be at a warmer temperature now if not at the temp I had set it for. And I think I've warmed up considerably while we've been waiting." I definitely felt warmer then a few seconds ago. I had forgotten that the pool-house itself would warm up slightly with the water so as to decrease the time needed for the water to warm to the proper temperature.

"Alright, but you're checking the water by yourself this time." She looked like all signs of shivering were gone.

"Alright it's good." I said after checking the water. She immediately jumped in. I didn't have time to duck under to escape the splash. We spent a few hours in the pool alternating between pool games and floating on our backs. We didn't stop until we heard someone clear their throat from the direction of the door.

"Well it seems like you too had a lot of fun while I was away. Pity. It seems I can be a real bummer, huh?" I knew he was on the verge of laughing. I looked over to see Paydon standing in the doorway with his suit jacket slung over his shoulder. "I must say coming home from a date and seeing to beautiful girls swimming in my pool is something I just did not expect. Ah well. Well I see that I'm not going to get anymore Kool-aid until tomorrow."

"Ah you know that you have your own way of making something fun. So had did it go with your date?" I knew that it had to have gone well. If it hadn't he would have gone to his room and completely ignored everyone for the next few days.

"Oh that. Well my date got completely drunk and tried to convince me to come home with her, but I finally got her into a cab. I followed to make sure she would be alright. Speaking of which can you fix my jacket? I think I may have torn it on something when I started following." He held the jacket up for me to see. It had a big tear running from the top of the left shoulder to left pocket at the bottom of the jacket.

"Well that depends. Do we have any black string left? And also what really happened to it?" I knew that that kind of tear could only happen to something he was wearing if he wasn't paying attention and the only way you can get him to stop paying attention was to fight him. He would have stopped moving if he felt something start to tear his suit as I knew it was his only one.

"Aha well let's just say that say did indeed run into some trouble. And please leave it at that. She made me promise not to tell what happened." He looked at me expectedly, almost like he was waiting for me to make him tell me. I do have a habit of doing such things, but I knew when to draw a line.

"Alright. I won't ask. Now stop looking at me like a lost puppy. Seriously man, it's a little weird." I mean really he looks like a lost dog thats been kicked too many times. He waited for me to get out of the pool and then handed me a towel and his suit jacket. He made some sort of noise that sounded like a thank you, but I wasn't about to let it slide. "Um what was that my good friend. I didn't quite hear."

"Thank you, beag chailleann." H said using the nickname that he had given me a few months ago when he was buying me a dress and asked for my size. I guessed that it meant little something in some other language.

"Your quite welcome. So do we have any black thread left or what?" I knew he had a sewing kit, but at some point in his life he had forgotten how to properly fix a tear in his clothes.

"I should still have some laying around. Hold on." I saw him stand there for a moment. I knew better than to ask if he was gonna go look; he was already looking. I learned that he had some kind of connection with the building and this allowed him to search the entire place without moving. He could also move things through the walls to bring them to him. If he had any thread left anywhere it would be his in a matter of seconds. "Sorry, but it seems like we've run out of thread of any kind. We'll have to make another trip to the store tomorrow."

"What? Tomorrow? Why do we need to go tomorrow? I was planning on meeting some friends tomorrow." I was more than a little pissed off. Shopping with him normally took all day. Even when he promises to make it quick we still end up in the store all day. We would either have to buy a whole bunch of parts for his inventions or he gets into a shouting match with one of the clerks over how much the parts and everything else actually costs with tax. Though I am proud to say that he hasn't ever lost one of those arguments.

"Come on, it won't take long this time. I don't need any new parts for the time being. And everything else has been taken care of as far as I know. All we need is some more sugar, more Kool-aid mix, and more thread." He once more did the lost puppy face. He knew that I couldn't say no to that face; it was too sad. I may have been an ex-thief and ex-villain but that doesn't mean that I was heartless.

"Oh fine, but we'll go in the afternoon. My plans were for the morning. And if the shopping trip takes more than an hour then I'm throwing out all your cooking gear and your assorted wrenches. Do you understand me?" I knew he would cave in less than a second and I wasn't disappointed.

"Ok ok. I promise to make it as quick as possible. Well good night, beag chailleann." He looked slightly pale at the prospect of losing his cooking gear and wrenches. He walked out leaving me and Raven to change into our regular clothes. She still beat me at it. We all said good night to each other one last time before Raven left and me and Paydon went to our respective bedrooms and went to sleep.

**Mr. Floodwaters: Alright so I've seen some other authors do this and thought it just might be a good idea, so here I am talking to you readers out there through this method. Can't say that it's really all that fun but you know-**

**Mysterious Person: Hi there people.**

**Mr. Floodwaters: Who the fuck are you?**

**Mysterious Person: You shall never know. Well you might but until then I shall be known as Mysterious Person.**

**Mr. Floodwaters: Alright this is ridiculous. Who here knows who this clown is?**

**Mysterious Person: Clown? Who are you calling clown?**

**Mr. Floodwaters: Alright that's it. I'm uploading this before you can do any real damage.**


	5. Meeting The Sister and Her Something

**A/N: Hey everyone, alright so for those who have been following this story and have been reviewing and those who haven't, I would like to say that I greatly appreciate all of you. Also if you are wondering when I will start up the romance then you guys have to get yo eyes checked out cause it's already started. Maybe it might have been hard to see with how *great amounts of sarcasm enters voice* amazingly awesome my writing skills are. But seriously if it hasn't been as obvious as I wanted it to be then I'm really very sorry. Also no villain will be present in this story, however if I make a second story then there might be one in that particular story, still not sure however and also the poll up on my profile will be taken down as I don't really want a villain in this story. If anyone voted on it though I will put the most voted on villain in the next story IF I think it will work. Also I will make Paydon's actions more prominent now as I've gotten bored with all this subtlety.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Teen Titans. I only own the plot behind this story and the character Paydon. Now go on with your reading.**

**The Following Morning**

"Paydon, I'm leaving!" I shouted. I knew he was somewhere around here, but I didn't know where.

"Alright! Hey do you know what I did with my monkey wrench?" I swear that man loses the damn thing every other day. Despite what he can do within the walls of this building he could never find it.

"No! Why the hell would I know?" I really don't know why he always asked me. It's almost like he expects me to be the cause of it all.

"I don't know. Just about anything is possible in this building." That was always the excuse that he used when he questioned me about missing objects.

"Whatever. I'm leaving now. Remember, you have to be ready to go the store by the time I get back. I am so not gonna spend another hour listening to you argue with a store clerk." The last time he did that the clerk quit.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Hey what do you want for dinner tonight? By the way before you answer I need to say that I invited the Titans over. All of them. Also would you like to cook or should I?" Then there was a loud clank, the sound of a whirring engine, and a loud whoop. "I got the car working, so you can take it into town if you want."

"Oh sweet! Wait, I thought that my license was suspended on your orders. Also what the hell was that about?" I had just gotten over my anger about that a few months ago and now it came back just as fresh as when I first found that out.

"Oh that. I never really suspended your license. It was just for fun. And was a test to see how long it took for you to break the law about no driving with a suspended license." I could almost hear the smile that would most certainly be on his face now.

"Oh you suck Paydon. You know that right?" Now I was smiling. "You could have just said something after a year pasted."

"Yeah that's what made it funny." The voice was suddenly behind me causing me to jump and scream.

"Hey that wasn't cool. It was is creepy." But I couldn't stop giggling. Makes it kinda hard to convince someone that they're creepy.

"Well I don't believe you. Anyway so I guess I'm cooking and setting up the table?" He asked the question a little too eagerly. I decided that he should be in charge of the cooking and such, but with a price of course.

"Alright, but you have to be done with the shopping two hours before the guests arrive or," I pointed to his very spacious kitchen with all its different cooking utensils and ovens, "all that will be gone." The look on his face twas the most hilarious thing I've ever seen.

"Alright, alright. Look I forgot to mention this but my sister will be coming also. You wouldn't really mind if I used your recipe for apple pie, its my sister's favorite food and yours is the best I've ever had." His expression was so pleading that I gave in right away.

"Oh alright, the recipe is in the back of the spice cabinet." The spice cabinet was very expansive and hold over a thousand spices most of which were from Paydon's home land, so I thought why not hide a secret family recipe that I stole from home when I ran away.

"Thank you Jinxy girl." He seemed pretty happy about getting to use my secret recipe. I knew also that if he knew what was good for him he'd never share it with anyone.

"Wait a minute! Don't call me Jinxy! I hate that. Honestly if you can't show respect for a person's name preferences then don't call them by anything at all." I was almost convincing, but my resolve broke near the end of my sentence and I started giggling. When Paydon saw that I was kidding he started laughing too, albeit a little nervously.

"Alright, peace I'm gone." I giggled a little more at my choice of words. I left a few minutes after because I had to look for his keys. But before I left I heard this.

"WAIT! I thought we were both going shopping!" I left before he could try to make me answer, laughing the whole way to town.

**Three Hours Later**

I came back and the place was lit up like the Fourth of July and Christmas decided to have a baby. Quite obviously it was to rid the place of shadows which plagued the place any other time. See the reason behind this was because Paydon had this sort of …. dysfunction that would act up when he couldn't find things. He said that it had something to do with losing a very important whatchamacallit some years ago and it had permanently messed him up psychology. Anyway they had already started when I walked in. I found that Paydon had set up the table in a pattern. I would sit on his left, then comes Raven, then Robin, then Cyborg on the end opposite of Paydon. On his right was a woman that I could only guess was his sister and she was beautiful (I'll get back to her later though), then came Starfire, and then Beast Boy. I heard a noise come from one of the corners and when I looked I saw that we had another guest. He was about as tall as Paydon, he was wearing black pants and a black and white striped shirt though the sleeves were black and the rest of the shirt was white, he had on the same kind of coat that Paydon wore when he went out, a duster, he had on dark green combat boots. And something seemed to swish and sway behind him. I started slightly when I realized that it was a tail, he must have noticed that I was staring at it because he turned toward me, smiled, and wrapped the tail and his waist shifting it slightly so that his shirt hid it. Of course though his smile caused me to start again, this time a little more noticeably as everyone turned towards me, because he had fangs, like cat fangs but larger and more fitted for his mouth.

"It's not polite to stare at people, even one so strange looking as my friend Mason over there." It was Paydon's sister who had said that. Her voice was almost like honey but had an undertone like what a snake must sound like before it strikes.

"Hey at least I don't carry explosives around, even at the dinner table." This was Mason talking. "And I don't dress like I work for a freaking demolition company." I had just noticed that she was indeed dressed like a demolition expert would seem to look like, kinda faded work shirt and blue jeans.

"Ok so admittedly I carry one or two sticks of dynamite with me just in case. At least I took off my belt at the door. And I at least can sit at the table." At this she grinned wickedly.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Miss. Rachel." He held up a chair. It undoubtedly belonged to Rachel because she almost immediately fell down.

"You'll pay for that later, you know that right Mason?" It was Paydon. He had finally spoken up.

"Oh for sure, but right now I intend to have as much fun with this as possible." And he did seem to be having fun laughing and carrying on like nothing could go wrong. He stopped after a minute then helped Rachel back into her chair and then fixed up anything that was messed up during her fall. "Alright, let's hope that Fall doesn't come early again." 

"Yes but let's also hope that you don't have a barber related accident." Rachel held up a pair of scissors and a tuft of hair. Mason yelped and grabbed his head then his tail finding no damage done to either he started laughing nervously. "Oh don't think that you're off the hook for that. Matter-of-fact you're gonna hold a little show for everyone here after dinner."

"Yes ma'am. Would like me to get you more wine or has your mouth got enough of that?" It was meant to sound mean, we all could tell this but I don't think that it had the desired effect. There was a flash of metal and a yelp, suddenly Mason was up and running away with his tail between his legs (literally) and whimpering like a wounded animal. He stopped in a corner and began to check to see how bad the damage to his tail was. I think that it was wrong to laugh at him but it was too hard to feel bad about it when the whole thing was so funny.

"He forgets that I'm just as fast as my brother." It didn't register to me that she was talking about Paydon. That is until he answered back.

"Rachel you know that you're nowhere as fast as me. Matter-of-fact none of my siblings are as fast as me. Only one person was ever faster than me." And that's about when he started to get this far away look in his eyes like he was remembering another time and another place. It took about five minutes in which time most of us had finished the rest of food and were looking at Mason expectedly.

"Hey I'm not performing until all parties are present." That was his response and from the look on his face he wasn't gonna change his mind anytime soon. So I did what I always did to get Paydon's attention: whistle as humanly. It definitely worked cause in few seconds he was yelling something in a foreign language, that I think was his native language, and covering his ears. See a while ago he told me that if he ever spaced out I should whistle as loud as I possibly could and it would snap him out of it as he had trained his ears to be extra sensitive should he not be under control or something of the like.

"Was that really necessary? I was trying an old friend. It was nice. Oh... you guys are done eating aren't you?" He looked around at everyone then at Mason. The look clearly said that Mason was to get on with it. Mason grabbed a napkin and tied it around his head so that it covered his eyes Rachel moved so that she was about twenty yards from him. I hadn't noticed earlier but there was a crate full of glasses next to Rachel's feet. She pulled two out for each hand and chucked the first two up into the air which were quickly followed by the other two. There was no sign of movement, no noise, no anything that would have prepared me for what happened next. The glasses were shattered almost immediately after they reached twenty feet in the air. And Mason stood there with a silver gun still smoking from being recently fired. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I knew that he couldn't see through that napkin on his face and that the gun couldn't have been silent without a silencer but there was none. We all waited for him to reload the four bullets that he had shot, when five minutes passed we heard the sound of gunshots. We all looked around trying to find the source of the noise only to see Mason shaking with suppressed laughter, that's when it clicked for me: Mason had moved faster than the speed of sound.

"Mason there was no need to show off. This is supposed to be punishment for you not amusement." Rachel scolded him.

"Ah Miss. Rachel come on, you know that was funny." He couldn't seem to stop smiling at our confusion, that is until Rachel threw another glass at him and he was forced to focus on the offending object. This time he moved so that we could all see and hear him. The onslaught of flying glass continued and as it did I realized what she was doing, Rachel was tiring Mason out so that she could go all out and show him who was really in charge. It reminded me vaguely of when Mammoth tried to train a dog, however the dog proved smarter than him and escaped. In this situation I knew that Mason wouldn't be able to escape. Then I saw that Rachel had set a full bottle of red wine right next to her. And that's when the exact plan came into my mind, she was gonna tire Mason out and once he was slowed down enough she would throw the bottle and have it crash against his head, most likely.

It took about two hours of Mason shooting glasses and dodging the shards before he finally slipped up, literally. The way he had been moving was to ensure that the glass was crushed to a fine powder which he would glide across. This had worked very well until his foot slid onto a piece of glass that he had missed early. Once that happened the friction from the larger piece of broken glass across the floor caused a sudden halt in his movements and that's when Rachel threw the bottle of wine. What no one was expecting was for the bottle to explode centimeters from the back of Mason's head. The thing that surprised us wasn't that it exploded at all, it was that it was blown apart in three places and that the shots had come from Paydon whom no one knew owned a gun. Well excepting his sister and Mason who would most definitely know. We waited awhile to hear the shots catch up but it took a lot longer than when Mason had done it. I was starting to wonder at this point what other things he might be keeping from like this pistol that he apparently carried in his coat. But now was not the time to wonder about such things was not as important as watching Mason try to get rid of the wine by first licking at it and then shaking himself like a cat that had been dropped in water. After awhile passed, and there was still wine dripping from his coat, Mason seemed to resign himself to a less desired solution. He stood very still for a few moments with his eyes closed. Minutes passed before he snapped his eyes open; they were completely changed, now they seemed to glow with an inner fire. His eyes were now the color of an open flame instead of the coal black they had been before and now they seemed to be textured like an actual fire whereas before they seemed like they were made of perfectly circled lumps of coal. Eventually it became clear that he was creating his own heat trying to cause the wine to evaporate.

**A/N: I just couldn't continue writing people. With this author's note this chapter is five freaking pages long on my Libre Office. Phew. That's a lot by my usual standards. Anyway I would like to thank those of you who have reviewed and followed so far. I know that I said that I would stop the subtlety in this chapter but it grew too long to continue so the subtlety will end next chapter. I hope. Anyway I've decided that you the readers will help me decide if I should make a sequel. I already know how this story will end so there's no need to try to help me with that. Anyway most of this was thought up while I was on the track during Gym class so if it seems like I may have edited it somewhat I did in my mind which is why it may seem a little jumbled then you can blame Mysterious Person.**

**Mysterious Person: What the hell, man?**

**Mr. Floodwaters: Nothing personal but I don't want to take the blame.**

**Mysterious Person: Phfft. *rolls eyes*. Whatever. Anyway remember that if you guys want to know who I am just put your review or pm Mr. Floodwaters. Well that's all I got to say how bout you Floody?**

**Mr. Floodwaters: Floody? Oh yeah I got something to say. Turn away my readers so that there are no witnesses.*turns toward MP with murder in eyes***

**Mysterious Person: Um …. help? Time I go see you later people!*turns to run but is caught by Mr. Floodwaters***

**Mr. Floodwaters: Right, bye everyone!*raises fist***


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